Think great thoughts, say great words, do great things.

(Est 1:13) Then the king spoke to the wise men who knew the times–for this was the king’s procedure toward all who were familiar with law and judgment.

In the first chapter of Esther, we see a king who is confused about what action to take regarding the behavior of his wife.The king asks his wise friends for advice on how to handle the shame his wife had caused him.

The lesson in today’s story is, we all need good advice; especially in difficult situations. A lot of times, we keep our problems to ourselves, and we allow them to weigh us down, we feel no one can understand what we are going through, or we get too proud to share our burdens with others.

In today’s text the King in all his majesty, power and glory, asked for advice, he didn’t respond to his wife’s behavior by getting angry, instead he sought the advice of his friends.

In our daily lives no matter what the situation may be, we should always pray and ask for the Holy Spirits guidance, furthermore we should ask for advice from wise and noble people around us.

(Pro 17:3) The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tries the hearts.

Life is tough, as days go and nights fall, so do friends and family come and go. As each second leads to a second, one problem leads to another. At times when the nights seem so dark we tend to pray more and draw closer to God, but sometimes it seems all our prayers don’t cut it and the things we dread the most happens. At tines like this all that fills our minds is why, why did God let this happen? why did my friend have to go? Why is all this happening to me?

It’s not wrong to ask questions, but these kind of questions rarely get answered. At times like this it’s easy to begin to doubt God, doubt our faith , doubt our beliefs and most of all we tend to doubt ourselves. One thing we should always remember is that God’s ways are never our ways and his thoughts are way bigger than ours, although he causes us to go through pain today, it is to make us stronger and more prepared for the future he has for us.

So as we celebrate our victories in life let’s remember that the God who gives us the good gifts also gives us the tough situations , however his tests are not to break us, but to make us who he’s called us to be.

“Common clay must go through the heat and fire of the furnace to become porcelain. But once porcelain, it can never become clay again.” – Aruni

Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless—like chasing the wind. (Ecclesiastes 6:9 NLT)

It’s normal for us to want a better life, a bigger house, a faster car, a better paying job. We often believe these things will make us happier and better off, but that isn’t necessarily the case. Happiness is a choice we have to consciously make, it’s not a function of the cars we drive, house we live in, or how much we can spend. Our happiness depends on how we appreciate the things and people in our lives today, in fact I dare to say that the most important factor in being happy is the quality of relationships we have with those around us and God.

As Humans, all we live our lives for is to find love, acceptance and significance. Acquiring material things will make us very comfortable, but we should never pay for them with our friendships. In today’s text Solomon Said “Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have.”, true happiness comes when we enjoy the things we have with people who love and care for us.

At first you try , if you fail try again
(Exo 5:22) Then Moses turned again to the Lord and said, O Lord, why have You dealt evil to this people? Why did You ever send me?

When God gives us a vision or a dream, we get all excited and we start working on it, we believe since God said it, things should go smoothly. However things don’t turn out to be as easy as we expect. We often face a lot of obstacles on the way to our destiny and we begin to ask God if he truly gave us the dream.
In today’s text, God told Moses that he had heard the cries of the Israelites and he was going to free them from slavery. I bet Moses thought the only thing he had to do was talk to Pharaoh and he will immediately release the Israelites, however in his first attempt Pharaoh doubled the labor of the Israelites and they hated Moses for it. It took ten plagues to get Pharaoh to release the Israelites but he eventually did.

The lesson today is, even when we hear or receive God’s plan four our lives, it doesn’t mean they will come on a silver platter. Most times God makes us work for our dreams and victories and in the process of doing that we learn that success is not by our strength, education, intelligence or smartness; but by his grace and favor. The path to achieving our dreams is like a roller coaster, it never goes the way we plan, but eventually we learn to depend on God, and like Ephesians 3:20 says, “He will do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us”.

Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord.
Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly. (Psalm 5:3 NLT)

How many times do we pray and say God didn’t reply us?
How many times do we ask God a question and it seems he doesn’t respond?

A lot of times we say our prayers in a hurry or out of desperation, our prayers are either very routine, like the grace we say before dinner, or they are due to an urgent and pressing need, when we feel helpless and we know that God is the only solution we have.

Prayers aren’t meant to be on-demand transactions with God, a lot of times we feel that once we pray God should answer immediately, just like watching a movie on Netflix. Prayers instead are meant to be conversations with God, we speak and then we must wait for him to respond.

In today’s text we see how David talked to God, he said “each morning I bring my requests to you andi wait expectantly”. That means when we pray we should tell God, what’s on our minds, and then we must have faith that he heard us, and then we must wait for him to answer our requests.

Our conversations with God shouldn’t be on-demand, he always answers us at the right time, be rest assured in his word because he promises he will never leave us, or forsake us.

Hello Dad,
Hope you’ve settled back into the groove of things at home.
I really enjoyed every moment I spent with you during the visit. During the times we spent together I realized that you’ve been the greatest influence in my life.
As I grow older, I begin to appreciate you more and more, and I’ve realized that you truly love me.
You taught me to trust God, seek him first and depend on him alone.
You also taught me that there’s no shortcut, to true and lasting success; that the greatest possession we have is our name and reputation.
You’ve taught me that the way to love someone, is to spend time with them, and sacrifice for them.
Of all the things I learnt from you, the one thing I’ll always remember you for, is that you always took the time to explain to me “why”. You never comanded me “to do this” or “don’t do that” instead you convinced me that your way was the right way, by telling me stories of your failures, struggles and success. And how you could have been more successful if you had obeyed the rules you were giving me.

I really love you dad, like fine wine my love for you grows stronger by the day. As my mind grows each day, I begging to comprehend your love for me, and all I want to say is thank you.

Thank you for being there fore me, for sending me to the best of schools even when it cost you almost all your savings. Thank you for taking the time out, every morning to explain the bible to me, and teach me to pray, thank you for always understanding and not giving up on me, even when I made horrible mistakes. Thank you for trusting me, by letting me go to school in the U.S even when the whole world told you it was a bad idea. Thank you for taking the time out to listen to my ideas and suggesting how I could bring them to life. Thank you for providing me with a beautiful home to grow in, with the basketball and badminton court, thank you for the gamecube ( I was really shocked when you bought it). Thank you for introducing me to technology and buying really cool gadgets for me.

There’s so many things to say thank you for, but I think the best way to say thank you is to take advantage of all you’ve given me; and use them to become a better person, than you have been. It’s a tough call to be as great a man as you have been, but it’s a challenge I will spend the rest of my life fighting.
I’m really looking forward to when we can do business together, I can’t wait for the time when we will both revolutionaalize the Internet space in Africa, and proove to the world that Africa isn’t a land filled with corruption and poverty, instead Africa is land filled with people with world class talent, and integrity. I’m really looking forward to the day I’ll introduce my soul mate to you, and the day I’ll place your grand children and great grand children in your arms. I’m looking forward to spending Christmas with you and mum, and asking for your advice on marriage, raising children and living the life God has called me to live.

Thanks dad for being the best, I love you, adore you and I cherish every moment we’ve spent together.

8. Find your passion while you’re in school and develop it, if you don’t you’ll spend the rest of your life working 9-5, paycheck -paycheck, at a job you don’t like, with a boss who will make your life a living hell.

9. Don’t be popular, instead be remarkable. We tend to remember people who make an impact, not those we see all over the place.

10. There is never enough time to do a job right, but always enough to do it over.

when you solve a problem take the time to create a lasting solution, rather than a quick fix.

11. People don’t change, they only vibrate.

Don’t love someone hoping they”ll change; they might pretend for a while but eventually they’ll return to who they really are.

12. Anyone who say’s they aren’t influenced by their friends, is practicing the art of self-deceit and naivety.

The people around us influence us, whether we like it or not; so surround yourself with people heading in the right direction.

13. Everyone can be good, loving, loyal and honest, but it takes a great friend and leaders to show them how.

14. Be slow to judge others, everyone has a story.

15. like babies sometimes, we put our hands inside fire, hoping that we’ll pull it out right before we get burnt.

Those ahead of us, have made all the mistakes we can possibly make, it is foolishness to repeat their actions.

Seek counsel, from God and man, there’s nothing new under the sun, there’s nothing you’re going through that hasn’t been experienced, talk to people and use their experiences to guide you.

16. You cannot love someone if you don’t have the choice not to love them.

Everyday brings with it something new, here are some interesting lessons i’ve learnt this year.

1. Genius is celebrated in public, but forged in solitude. Success is a function of what we do with ourselves when no one is around.

2. The differences between great and good is the time you spends alone, developing your skills and talents.

3. Great ideas are born in the shower, but it takes more than soap and sponge to bring them to reality. ( a good plan+ a good team + the right connections + hard-work ) * idea = Success.

4. Focus, there’s only so much stuff your brain can handle at a time. It’s hard to be your best when you have a lot going on, focus on a few things and do them well.

5. the greatest sense of fulfillment comes, when you take an idea from your head and you see other people embrace it. #facebook,twitter,MLK,Ghandi

6. Principles are different from beliefs, regardless of the situation they never change. Although religions differ in beliefs, they all share a common principle, that we should love God with all our heart and we love our neighbors as ourselves.

Because every body does it, doesn’t make it right. #principles.

7. Networking. It’s not enough to be a good person, or to have great ideas, what’s more important is if the right people know about you and your ideas.